IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

Islamic State execute 3 in Anbar for collaboration with security

Qaim – Islamic State militants executed three young men accusing them of collaboration with security forces, a security source said Friday as the province anticipates imminent military offensives to eliminate the extremist group.

The source told Alghad Press that the three young people were executed in the center of the town of al-Qaim, but did not give details of the method the execution.

Islamic State militants have systematically executed civilians fleeing areas they had taken over since 2014. Many other civilians were also executed for contacting security forces. Recent reports from Anbar have also said that the militants had forcibly recruited young people to fight for the group.

Islamic State has held the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaim, on Anbar’s westerb borders with Syria, since 2014, when it proclaimed an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. Recent news reports have said military reinforcements were sent to areas near those towns preparing for an invasion against IS. The Iraqi Joint Operations Command has, meanwhile, declared that its coming battle would be in IS-held Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk. So far, U.S.-backed government forces recaptured Mosul, Islamic State’s former capital, and the town of Tal Afar, a major haven west of Mosul.